Hating Grayson ✓

28

"Tell me everything!" Hannah demanded with a squeal.

"There's nothing to tell." I say.

"Who was it?" She takes a seat next to me on the couch.

"She didn't tell me her name." I reach over to the coffee table to retrieve the glass of orange juice I had poured just a minute ago.

"How am I the only one in our friend group not having sex?" Hannah wondered.

"We didn't have sex." I inform her. "According to her, I vomited on myself, took a shower, changed into a pair underwear that I had drunkenly put on inside-out and then I fell asleep."

"Oh. Then why was she in your bed?" Hannah asked, dragging her feet onto the couch. If my mother were here, she'd probably smack her.

"She said that her friends left her and she had nowhere else to sleep." I say.

"Well, thank god you guys didn't, you know. Now you can go on a date with Deja."

The sound of the front door closing caused me to spill orange juice on my shirt. "A date?" Mitchell stuck his nose where it didn't belong. Grayson is standing behind him, his eyes scanning the room. "Are you going on a date with that girl who left your bed this morning?"

Oh my god. I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"No, that was a different girl." Hannah says.

Grayson's eyes fall on me, only for a moment, when Mitchell howled. "Damn, Dal! You're more of a player than Grayson."

If I could roll my eyes any further back, I would.

"That was uncalled for." Grayson practically mumbled.

"Don't you both have football practice to go to?" I quipped.

"Yes. I forgot my wallet, so I had to come back and get it." Mitchell says.

"Does the coach charge you when your late?" I asked sarcastically.

"No. Afterwards we're going out for pizza."

"Ooh, can you bring some home for me?" I begged.

"Me too." Hannah gave Mitchell her best puppy dog eyes.

With a groan, Mitchell agreed to bring us home some pizza.

"Sweet!" Says Hannah, kicking her feet up onto the coffee table as if she owned the place.

"Oh, mom and dad are coming home the day after tomorrow." Mitchell added from the dining table where he picked up his wallet and slipped it into his pocket.

"Okay." I say, already planning to accost them the instance they step foot through that door.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I thought that it might've been a text from Cody, who I had texted earlier today. Instead, It was a text from Deja who wanted to know if I wanted to go to the movies with her tomorrow.

Me:
Sounds good.

"Alright, later losers." Mitchell, followed by Grayson, walk over to the front door.

"Don't forget to bring home some pizza!" I called out as the door closes shut behind them.

Deja from school:
Nice. Can't wait.

"Have you heard from Cody?" I asked Hannah after returning my phone to my pocket.

"Yeah, he's hanging out with Phillip and Jake. Something about guy's night?" Hannah tells me.

And they didn't invite me?

"Assholes sure to invite me."

"Cody told me that you said you didn't want to hang out with them." She says.

"He did?"

"I have an idea, why don't we just go and crash their party of three?" She suggested.

It was clearly a ploy so that she could see Jake.

"Nah. You can if you want, I'd rather just stay here and watch this ad about honey for the third time today." I say, acting like I wasn't hurt by the fact that my best friend is clearly avoiding me.

The next day in the afternoon, Deja picked me up from my house and drove us to the cinema across town. The drive was awkward and kind of annoying, as Deja had the heat cranked up to a degree that could possibly fry an egg.

"I'm surprised that you agreed to see a movie with me." She says as we exit her vehicle and walk across the parking lot.

"Why?" I wondered, taking a leap forward using my crutches.

"I kinda had the sense that you and Hannah were a thing." She says, causing me to laugh.

"We're just friends. Best friends." I explained.

"Oh. That makes sense." She says.

"So, what are we watching?" I asked her.

"There's this new movie about zombies, I thought it seemed like it would be a good movie." She says.

"Cool. I love zombies." I added.

"So do I." She smiled.

"Okay, so if we were in a zombie apocalypse. What would be your weapon of choice?" She asks.

I hadn't really given it any thought.

"After watching The Walking Dead, I would choose a katana. Michonne is a badass." Was my answer.

Deja gives a nod of approval. "She is, isn't she?"

"What about you?" We step over the gutter and onto the sidewalk, slowing down a pace.

"A bow and arrow." She gave her answer. "I'm obsessed with Arrow."

"Nice choice." I say.

I open the door to the cinema and wait for Deja to walk in first. That's the gentleman thing to do, right? After she walks inside, I follow her.

She came to a halt and searched the crowd, as if she was looking for someone.

"Shouldn't we go and get tickets?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm just waiting for my friend to get here." She says.

Her friend?

I had assumed that this was a date.

"I hope you don't mind, I asked my friend to join us for a double date." She pulls out her phone and quickly texts someone, probably the friend that she was waiting for.

A double date? Aren't those just an excuse to not be alone with someone?

"I don't mind at all." I tell her, shoving my hands into my pockets as we waited for her friend to show up.

Deja looks up and searches the crowd again before her eyes light up and her mouth falls open. "Aisha! Over here!" Deja called, waving a hand through the air.

I look over to see Aisha Johnson, who was dressed to kill. It's the same girl from the party who was making out with Grayson.

Oh my god.

You're actually kidding me.

Beside her stood Grayson, who was currently scratching at the back of his neck. His messy caramel colored hair fell down over his forehead as he makes eye contact with me.

The universe has got to be playing some kind of prank on me right now.

Is it too late to fake being sick?